Tuning a revolver...im looking for

[Marshal Deadwood]

A tuitor. At least for an intial 'schooling.'
Im in southwest Virginia, and would appreciate any information on an accompllished 'revolver person' in my area.

Anyone in my area that you folks know ?

thanks

Marshal Deadwood

[Skinny Preacher 66418]

Have you tried any of the SAA books/videos available?

[Flint]

You need Jerry Kuhnhausen's book, "The Colt Single Action Revolvers", "A Shop Manual, Volumes 1 & 2".  (It's all one book).  If there's anything you would need to know beyond what's in there, I haven't found it yet.  Jerry's book is published by Heritage Gun Books, Heritage-VSP Publications, Box 887, McCall, ID 83638.  If you have a Ruger Single Action, he also has a shop manual for that, which covers Old and New Models.

The book also covers Uberti, etc. clones and shows the changes and screw threads, etc, so you could even make some of your own parts.
Jerry K. also has the definitive manuals for the S&W Double Actions, Ruger Double Actions, the Colt Automatic, Colt Double Action Revolvers, US Cal 30 Carbines, and the M1 Garand and M-14, and others.  A must for the tinkerer or professional gunsmith

Another very worthwhile book is "Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West" by David R. Chicoine.  Chicoine has several very good books, such as "Guns of the New West". (They're listed in the Cowboy Chronicle)

A gunshop with a decent library should have them.   

[Marshal Deadwood]

Im wondering what the risk of getting a revolver all 'out of tune' would be,,if one followed good books and a video of 'how to?'

Is 'tuneing' a revolver super super complicated ?

Marshal Deadwood

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

It all depends. How good is your mechanical aptitude? The finest gunsmith I ever met is totally self taught. He started out messing with guns when he was a young man, taking them apart to figure out how they worked, and gradually tweaking this or that until he got everything just perfect. He did not become an expert overnight, it probably took him many years. It didn't hurt that he is a trained Mechanical Engineer either, so he already knew a few things about metals and other related stuff.

I will second the 2 books. The Kuhnhausen book is second to none. It is a complete encycolpedia. You may have noticed I have quoted it to you several times. It is expensive, but it is worth every penny. The Chicoine book, "Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West", is much more general, with a few pages each on many different guns. But there is a chapter in the begining that has some very useful general gunsmithing information.

I will caution you though, do not expect to become an expert gunsmith on your first outing. Yes, it is easy to screw things up. Changing out springs is easy. Tweaking springs so they don't break takes a little bir of knowledge. Smoothing up rough surfaces is pretty easy, once you understand what to smooth and what not to touch. You also don't want to remove too much metal when smoothing parts. You should be able to smooth up any particular part in 5 minutes or less. Read what Chicoine has to say about smoothing parts. Anything more than that, well, a man just has to know his limits. I don't consider myself a gunsmith, just a bit of a tweaker. I would be a little uncomfortable adjusting the timing by working on the bolt myself, without some expert guidance. That's just me. If you buy the Kuhnhausen book, you may be surprised at the incredible amount of detail it goes into for some operations. He also assumes you are a competent machinist, so if you ain't, don't try the stuff that requires a lathe or a miller. But there is a whole lot you can do with simple handheld files and stones.

The other thing is, you don't have to do it all at once. You can go in and do a little bit of work, then shoot the gun for a while and see how you like it. If you're satisfied, you don't have to go any further. Once you get a feel for what you're doing, you might decide to go back in and do a little bit more. Also, there are different levels of smithing. I always have to remind my friend that I'm not looking for a super race gun. Just a bit of smoothing, a bit lighter a trigger pull, and a few other things. Once you turn a gun into a super race gun, you are right on the hairy edge of reliability. The hammer spring might be so light that all brands of primers may not fire. Other stuff tends to happen when you are pushing the envelope.

I'm sure some of the videos out there are fine, I don't have any experience with any of them.

ALso, there is usually more than one way to do anything. Which one is correct is usually anybody's guess. Only experience will say for sure.

[St. George]

The above comments are right on the money.

The idea of finding someone willing to teach you may be a daunting task - since the guys who are doing this work are doing it for a living and would have some expectations.

Probably first and foremost would be a facility with milling machine work,, welding and soldering, and a very thorough knowledge of hand tools and stones.

Taking on a neophyte takes time away from the bench that they make their money from.

If you're wondering what happens when a revolver goes out of time - the the bolt rises out of timed sequence and the cylinder gets scored - and the cylinder doesn't index reliably.

Most modern-made revolvers are fairly well-tuned - before they find their way to the retail dealer.

Those that aren't are best returned for adjustment - or if found used, are the result of some sort of abuse that's affected internal parts that could be soft - peening or otherwise damaging them.

That 'can' be corrected - but adds to overall cost of the piece.

Anyone can put new springs in, and call it an 'action job' - but that money's better spent on practice ammunition until it's decided that an actual action job would benefit your shooting ability.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Sixshooter_45]

+ 1 on the book, I just bought 'The Ruger Single Action Shop Manual Revolvers" from Jerry Kuhnhausen Volume I and II, both in one book here

I've already adjusted my trigger's take up by stoning the SBH hammer, and have corrected the timing on my Ruger so that the latch head, (bolt, stop), pops up in the lead, no more cylinder rings.

When the hammer is cocked and you let is down slowly, It is just a little rough feeling, however, I think I know how to fix that too. I believe it is due to the change I made in the hammer's plunger so I may have to put an ever so slight radius on the top back edge of the cylinder latch where the hammer's plunger rides over. Sorry if I got carried away, lol

Did the action timing test, impact-off test, push-off test, everything is just fine, gotta love it!

You want to make sure that the revolver's cylinder locks up tight, (cylinder latch head is protruding all the way up and is in in cylinder's locking slot cuts), as the hammer engages the triggers sear. There are some sear overtravel tolerances as mine locks up approx. 1/32 after solid cylinder lock up and is ok. I'm still thinking about purchasing a few extra pawls just to see if I can't get is closer though, as in simultaneous, yes that would be optimum, lol.

The action timing test is an important one, You don't want any excessive cylinder's chamber/throat to barrels bore misalignment..... cylinder NOT locked up in proper position yet hammer is cocked and locked. Not GOOD!

I'm not a gunsmith by any means but I do possess some mechanical ability but I and any one else working on there firearms have to be extra careful and try to full understand the possible implications of er... making improvements. Read, Read and then Read again and don't be afraid to ask question if you're not 100% sure of what you're doing and what it may affect.

I just got these grips for it too....

P.S. I'm also contemplating installing a trigger stop.

[Skinny Preacher 66418]

I bought a Uberti '75 at Cabelas this weeked...boy it was rough. I looked at the 7.5" model...the hammer wouldn't stay back without excess force (to hit the full cock notch). The 5.5" model was better, but still felt like gravel. I got the 5.5". After ~1 hr of polishing the bearing surfaces, and wasp-waisting the mainspring, the gun feels great now. The price was decent at $399, and I suspect final fitting was minimal to save money. After doing the work, I noticed that the backplate, top 1/5th, was milled uneven and had a fingernail thickness ste-up...which made the case deads catch. A couple passes with a sanding drum and 5 mins of stoning fixed it. I also didn't like how light and splotchy the case hardeningwas on the frame, so when rebluing the backplate, I cold-lued the frame twice. End result was a nice dark finish.

I've played with it with snap caps for several days, but haven't fired it yet. Poitability seems quicker with the 5.5 vs my other 7.5 '75.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Most modern-made revolvers are fairly well-tuned - before they find their way to the retail dealer.

Those that aren't are best returned for adjustment - or if found used, are the result of some sort of abuse that's affected internal parts that could be soft - peening or otherwise damaging them.

"Fairly" being the operative word. ALL new revolvers need an aftermarket forcing cone job, even a new Colt, Ruger, S&W, clones, etc. I don't know if USFA does this or not on their new guns but I doubt it. The only revolver manufacturer I would trust 100% out of the box would be by Freedom Arms.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Very few guns are perfect out of the box and even USFA can have an example that might need to be tweaked a bit to make it truly perfect. 

[TheOtherLeft]

Does the book "The Ruger Single Action Shop Manual Revolvers" from Jerry Kuhnhausen Volume I and II" cover the New Model Vaqueros?

[Coffinmaker]

Unless they have been revised, no.  The two guns are very close in design however and will come apart and go together almost the same.

Coffinmaker

[rbertalotto]

The absolute BEST way to learn gunsmithing is to take your summer vacation at the NRA Summer Gunsmithing Schools.

I attended Hamilton Bowens SSA class, Ron Powers S&W Double Action class, A Varmint Rifle building class and a 1911 class. Amazing amount of knowledge and use of machine tools and hand tools. My SAA revolvers run with the best of them. My S&W DAs are even better! It is not a "black art"...You just need to know what to do and how to do it AND WHEN TO STOP doing it!

The cost is super cheap and the class sizes small.

http://www.nragunsmithing.com/

I attended Montgomery Community College in Troy NC

[Fox Creek Kid]

...You just need to know what to do and how to do it AND WHEN TO STOP doing it!...

You just summarized marriage!!      

[rbertalotto]